Case Study ODYSSEY

cryptic by intent

EPIC FOR

Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company

Odyssey Technologies Ltd

Case Study ODYSSEY

cryptic by intent

Problem Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company was looking for ways to improve their laborious mutual funds user registrationand management process which involved extensive paper work, manual data collection, and management.

Solution

Epic

Odyssey

BSLAMC field agents were equipped with Odyssey Epic, a mobile data gathering solution from Odyssey Technologies Limited, designed to eliminate paper work and automate the process of data collection, aggregation and integration into the corporate work flow.

Results BSLAMC has been able to drastically improve their field agent productivity and in the process, also implement techniques for fraud prevention.

Birla Sun Life Birla SunLife Asset Management Company is an important name in the financial services industry. As a joint venture between Sun Life Financial, a Canadian based multinational company primarily providing life insurance, and the Birla group, Birla Sun Life is among the top 5 privately owned life insurance providers in India. In addition to life insurance, Birla Sun Life offers investment and wealth management services through its Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company (BSLAMC). These services include a wide range of products including mutual funds, savings and retirement plans, asset/portfolio management services etc.

Mutual Funds Customer Management Birla Sun Life acquires clients for its mutual funds services through its vast agent network. The agents typically meet with clients for new customer registration, during which time they carry out manual data collection and fill up the relevant application forms. The agents also assist customers with switching between different schemes and redeeming existing schemes.

Odyssey Technologies Ltd

Case Study ODYSSEY

cryptic by intent

Customer registration procedures typically involve extensive paperwork wherein the agent fills up the necessary forms for the customer, verifies the customer's identity and eligibility for the service by taking copies of the relevant documents including their photographs, and then filing the same at the corporate office to be merged with the database. The information filed typically involves the name of the mutual funds scheme that the customer subscribes to, investment amount, the mode of payment, and customer documents. The agent similarly assists customers with switching and redeeming their mutual funds schemes. With hundreds of branches spread across the country including rural India, the customer management process is quite laborious and time intensive. Birla Sun Life was therefore looking for ways to streamline the process and build more efficiency into the system.

Odyssey Epic Epic is a revolutionary mobile data gathering solution developed by Odyssey. Epic is designed to manage the elaborate process of physical data collection and aggregation in a simple and secure manner using only the mobile phone.

Epic client The client application is installed in the field agent's mobile phone along with a G&D micro SD card. The G&D card carries the agent's digital certificate using which the agent digitally signs the data collected from the customer, formats the data into a PDF and uploads it to the Epic server via GPRS.

Odyssey

Epic

Epic Server The Epic server consists of a web based administrative console. The agents and the services offered by the agents are managed by the administrators from the server. Each service or product offered by the institution has a unique application form where the form fields have to be filled by the customers. The agent can download the relevant forms from the server during the KYC process. Once the process is complete, the data uploaded by the agents can be viewed and maintained by the administrators through the server interface.

Odyssey Technologies Ltd

Case Study ODYSSEY

cryptic by intent

Epic in BSLAMC's environment As a solution that is designed specifically to ease the work load of field agents, Epic fit Birla Sun Life's needs for a streamlined and efficient data management system. In keeping with the zero-touch philosophy, Odyssey Epic was installed and configured at Birla Sun Life without affecting the existing set up or business continuity.

Birla Sun Life Operating Environment: Epic Server

Epic Client

(or) 64 bit Linux

Microsoft Windows XP and above

Win mobile 6.0 and above

Symbian S60

Linux

RIM Mobile phone with 2.0 Megapixels and above.

As of Dec 2011 Odyssey Epic underwent UAT at BSLAMC and went live on June 2012.

Data Collection BSLAMC uses Epic primarily to manage services offered to their customers for their mutual funds schemes. This includes manual subscription, switch, and redeem services.

Birla agents are equipped with Epic enabled mobile phones that contain a micro SD card with the agent's digital certificate. The application has a dash board where the agent can view the various services that he can offer to his customers.

Odyssey Technologies Ltd

Case Study ODYSSEY

cryptic by intent

For each of the services that Birla Sun Life offers,Epic creates unique application forms based on the requirements. Depending on the service offered to the customer, the agent downloads the relevant form, fills it up, and also captures images of identity documents directly into the phone using his mobile camera. If the service requires a photograph of the customer that is also captured using the camera.

Once the data gathering is complete, Epic aggregates the data into a PDF document and enables the agent to digitally sign it using his digital certificate. The document is also time stamped at this time.

Data Security Being able to digitally sign and time stamp the data was one of the primary attractions that encouraged BSLAMC to consider Epic for agent management. Epic uses a Giesecke and Devrient (G & D) micro SD smart card for storing the digital certificate of the agent and for performing cryptographic operations on the data. This allows the agent to identify and authenticate himself to the Epic server as well as sign and encrypt the uploaded data. By digitally signing the data, BSLAMC could ensure the authenticity and integrity of the uploaded data. Further, the feature introduced accountability and fraud prevention capabilities into the system. Once the data has been aggregated, signed and integrated with the database, it would be impossible for the agent to backdate the time of service to benefit the customer.

Data Integration The agent uploads the PDF to the Epic server for further verification and downstream processing. If the agent works in rural areas where he is unable to communicate with the Epic server using GPRS, Epic simply stores the collected data and uploads the same whenever signal is available.

Odyssey Technologies Ltd

Case Study ODYSSEY

cryptic by intent

Once the Epic server receives the PDF successfully, Birla's agents and their customers are intimated with a mail or SMS to their email id or mobile number respectively.

Data and agent management The Epic server unpacks the uploaded PDF documents, timestamps the data and then injects the data into the Birla Sun Life's database. Additionally, the data is also digitally signed by BSLAMC's digital certificate to ensure accountability and integrity of the document. TheEpic server supports a simpleweb based administrative interface that helps BSLAMC's administrators to manage and archive the collected data.

Epic Server

BSLAMC BSLAMC

The administrators with appropriate rights can carry out the following activities:

BSLAMC Birla Sun Life's database

Add and modify agents Add and modify services Map agents to services View all the application forms uploaded in the server Approve or reject any application form based on BSLAMC's requirements and add comments to the rejected documents if necessary

BSLAMC has been able to manage their agent network efficiently through the Epic server by automating the assigning of jobs, and enabling agents to download relevant forms when they need it.

R E S U L T S

BSLAMC has been able to drastically reduce paper work for its field agents since the customer details are captured as direct digital images using the mobile camera and uploaded to the server. Epic enables the BSLAMC field agents to gather data from even remote areas of the country where mobile network is not available. The encrypted communication between the Epic client and Epic server has enabled BSLAMC to manage the privacy of their customers' data and other personal information effectively. Since the introduction of Epic, Birla Sun Life has not only been able to stream line their customer registration and management process but also ensure data accountability and integrity, Which are essential components for financial services.

Odyssey Technologies Ltd

Case Study ODYSSEY

cryptic by intent

About Odyssey Technologies Limited Odyssey Technologies Limited is a pioneer in PKI technology in the Asia-Pacific region. The company develops products and solutions for transaction security and is recognized by the Controller of Certification Authorities in India as a technology vendor. By isolating the security components and business logic, Odyssey stays true to its zero-touch philosophy and ensures deployment of solutions quickly and effectively without the need for integration or changes to the existing code-base. The company proudly supports the security needs of major banks and financial institutions in the AsiaPacific region and has earned their trust as a reliable vendor. Odyssey Technologies Limited is based in Chennai, India and is listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange.

To learn more about solutions from Odyssey Technologies Limited, visit www.odysseytec.com or e-mail [email protected].

Odyssey Technologies Ltd